In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, with most people unaware of the dangers, smoking was treated as one of the coolest social things to do. Big tobacco companies targeted and sought out celebrities to endorse their products on TV commercials and magazine advertisements. Celebrities ranged from sports heroes to glamorous movie stars and even cartoon characters. Click through the gallery to view the advertisements.

Photo: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, with most people unaware of the...

In the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, with most people unaware of... Photo-7390932.71166 - SFGate

Chesterfield cigarettes hires baseball players to advertise their products in a magazine ad from around 1950, produced in Durham, North Carolina. The ad includes Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Jensen, Bucky Harris, and Ewell Blackwell.

Movie actor and future President Ronald Reagan holds a pack of cigarettes and smokes as he appears in a print advertisement for the Chesterfield brand of cigarettes, late 1940s. Text includes: 'My cigarette is the mild cigarette...that's why Chesterfield is my favorite' and 'It takes ABC to satisfy me! says picture star Ronald Reagan.'